The Journey of Leadership with Mark Fields and Hans-Werner Kaas

Following the conversation, we invite you to join us for a meet-and-greet with the authors, book signing and light refreshments.

Topic:

The Journey of Leadership: How CEOs Learn to Lead from the Inside Out (Portfolio/Penguin Group, USA, September 10, 2024)

Speakers:

Mark Fields, Former President and Chief Executive Officer, Ford Motor Company; Contributor
Hans-Werner Kaas, Senior Partner Emeritus, McKinsey & Company; Co-Author

Moderator:

Walid Hejazi, Professor, Rotman School of Management

Co-Presented by: CFA Societies Canada

About our Speakers:

Mark Fields served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Ford Motor Company and was a member of the company’s board of directors from 2014-2017.

Fields’ strong leadership was critical to the company’s North American restructuring and turnaround in the late 2000’s, and record global profits and margins in both 2015 and 2016.

He joined Ford in 1989 and progressed through a number of leadership positions in the United States, South America, Asia and Europe. Throughout his career, he has managed a series of turnarounds in many of Ford’s businesses around the world, most notably as president of The Americas, where he led a transformation of the company’s North America operations.

Fields formerly served as chief operating officer, Ford Motor Company, a position to which he was named in December 2012. In this role, and as CEO, he was responsible for overseeing Ford’s fastest global manufacturing expansion in 50 years, and managing the most aggressive global product introduction schedule in the company’s history. Prior to this, Fields served as executive vice president, Ford Motor Company. He was named president, The Americas, in October 2005.

He also formerly served as executive vice president, Ford of Europe and Premier Automotive Group, where he led all activities for Ford’s premium vehicle business group, and for Ford brand vehicles manufactured and sold in Europe. Prior to this, Fields was chairman and chief executive officer, Premier Automotive Group.

From 2000 to 2002, he was president and chief executive officer, Mazda Motor Corporation, leading the company through a significant transformation. Fields was named a Global Leader of Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum in 2000 and CNBC Asia Business Leader –Innovator of the Year in 2001.

Earlier in his career, Fields held a number of positions in both North America and South America, including managing director, Ford Argentina.

Fields served as chair of the U.S.-China Business Council from June 2015 to May 2017.

Fields currently serves as a Senior Advisor to TPG, a leading global alternative asset firm founded in 1992 with more than $80 billion of assets under management. He currently serves on the boards of 3 TPG portfolio boards. He also serves as an independent director on Qualcomm, Inc, Hertz Global Holdings, and is the lead independent director at Tanium.

Born in January 1961, Fields holds an economics degree from Rutgers University and an MBA from Harvard Graduate School of Business

Hans-Werner Kaas is Senior Partner Emeritus at McKinsey and is the co-dean of the CEO Leadership Program “The Bower Forum” and a former member of its Global Client Council. In 1991, he joined the McKinsey’s Frankfurt office, moved to the Cleveland office in 1997 and to the Detroit office end 1998.
During his career at McKinsey, Hans-Werner co-led the opening of McKinsey’s Detroit office in 1998 and co-founded the America’s Automotive & Assembly and the Advanced Industries practices (entailing Automotive & Assembly, Aerospace & Defence, Semiconductors, and Industrials).

During his 33 years with McKinsey, he served many of the leading global players in the automotive, electronics and SW, aerospace & defence, and machinery sectors on value creating strategies, M&A strategies and value capture, tech-enabled and operational performance transformations, business building and business model redesign, and organizational design and performance management.He specialized in the design, delivery, and leadership of global transformation and change programs and has played leadership roles within and beyond McKinsey. His expertise positioned him to act as a seconded transformation leader in select client situations over the years with governance and results responsibility.

Before starting his university studies, Hans-Werner served in the German Air Force on the staff of the wing commander of Tactical Fighter Wing 33.

Prior to joining McKinsey, Hans-Werner worked as an investment analysis intern at African Explosives and Chemical Industries (subsidiary of ICI Group) in Durban/South Africa in 1988, followed by a position as a strategic intern and production technology planning analyst at Daimler Benz AG/Stuttgart. He holds a master’s degree in mechanical engineering and business administration from the Technical University of Kaiserslautern/Germany. He received a scholarship of the Foundation of the German People during the years of 1986-1991. He additionally serves on the Board of Directors of the Business Leaders for Michigan, supporting growth and competitive strategies for the State of Michigan. Lastly Hans-Werner serves as the co-chair of the Alexis de Tocqueville Society of United Way in Southeast Michigan.

He founded his own advisory firm (HWK Advisory LLC) and continues working with and counselling CEOs and leaders across various industry sectors globally. Further on, he serves as senior advisor to McKinsey with focus on leadership development and the Bower Forum CEO leadership program. In addition, he is an engaged active investor in Private Equity, Venture Capital, and start-ups, while serving as Senior Advisor on the Advisory Board of the Private Equity and Asset Management Firm Fernweh Group.

About our Moderator:

Walid Hejazi is a professor of Economic Analysis and Policy at the Rotman School, a fellow of the Michael Lee-Chin Family Institute for Corporate Citizenship, and a member of the Board of Directors of the David & Sharon Johnston Centre for Corporate Governance Innovation. His research focuses on the development of strategies to enhance the ability of companies to compete in domestic and global markets. Walid has worked extensively with governments on the development of policies around foreign investment and international trade.

Book Synopsis:

Today’s CEOs operate in an increasingly high-risk environment, expected to tackle more complexity, and make bigger swings with no second chances. This has taken a toll: the average tenure of an S&P 500 CEO is at an all-time low. When the pressure is on, how can CEOs reinvent themselves too, along with their organizations?

Leaders of many of the boldest and most storied organizations regularly turn to the world’s most prestigious management consulting firm McKinsey & Company not only for organizational clarity, but for their own learning, transformation and leadership challenges. The Journey of Leadership: How CEOs Learn to Lead from the Inside Out (Portfolio, September 10th, 2024) by McKinsey senior partners Hans-Werner Kaas, Dana Maor, Ramesh Srinivasan, and Kurt Strovink is the first ever look-behind-the-curtain at McKinsey’s step-by-step approach to transforming leaders both professionally and personally.

Revealing lessons from its legendary CEO leadership program “The Bower Forum,” which has counseled 500+ global CEOs over the past decade, as well as McKinsey’s global CEO counseling practice, The Journey of Leadership shares how leaders hone the psychological, emotional, and ultimately, the human attributes that result in success in today’s most demanding top job.

Readers will learn how to:

• Assess your personal leadership approach and style objectively.
• Discover their true mandate as a leader.
• Develop creative, actionable ways to reinvigorate both themselves and their organizations.
• Create a personal commitment plan to inspire their team and cement their legacy.
  
  The Journey of Leadership brings the experience of one of the world’s most influential consulting firms right to readers’ fingertips and gives invaluable insights to anyone running or hoping to run an organization in today’s ever more complex world.

Event Logistics:

This event is available to attend in-person only.

Rotman Events is committed to accessibility for all people. If you have any access needs or if there are any ways we can support your full participation in this session, please email [events@rotman.utoronto.ca] no later than 2 weeks in advance of the event and we will be glad to work with you to make the appropriate arrangements.

General Admission: In-Person Ticket Details

The event will be hosted in Desautels Hall at the Rotman School of Management (105 Saint George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3E6).

Cancellation & Refund Policy

• Refunds will only be issued for cancellations received in writing NO LATER than 24 hours prior to the event. Please email events@rotman.utoronto.ca for processing.
  

• In-person registrants who do not pick up their book at the event will have 5 business days to request postal delivery by emailing us at events@rotman.utoronto.ca. All unclaimed books will be returned to the publisher after that time.

Questions: events@rotman.utoronto.ca, Megan Murphy